Dive Brief:
- Just in time for holiday wishlists to be made, Hollister has launched a mobile app function called Share2Pay allowing customers to share their carts with purchasers such as parents and guardians, according to a company press release Tuesday.
- Stemming from an analysis of proprietary research at parent company Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Share2Pay is intended to support teen customers who often leave their shopping bags idle since they don’t hold purchasing power. A soft launch of the payment options showed customers who used it placed orders nearly two times more than those who didn’t, per the release.
- The shopping bag can be shared from the brand’s mobile app with the purchaser via text message for customers in the U.S. and U.K. Purchasers can then change, add and remove items from the shopping bag through their mobile app before paying.
Dive Insight:
Ahead of the holidays, Hollister is giving its young customers an easy way to tell their parents exactly what they want.
“Hollister has been at the forefront of creating seamless shopping for our teen customers and we’re excited to officially add a new payment functionality to our suite of tools. By listening to our customers and understanding the dynamic between the purchaser and wearer, we discovered a way to reduce friction,” Samir Desai, chief digital and technology officer at A&F Co., said in a statement. “Introducing new patent-pending technology like Share2Pay allows us to make shopping for teens and parents easier.”
The news follows a lackluster performance by the brand in its most recent quarter. While A&F Co.’s namesake brand saw net sales rise 5% year over year in the second quarter, Hollister saw sales fall 15% with the company citing a "greater than anticipated" impact from inflation as well as a shift away from its core categories.
Hollister has been working to gain more success with younger audiences. Earlier this year it held a pop-up shop for its subbrand Social Tourist, which is led by teen influencers Charli and Dixie D’Amelio. The brand also debuted an augmented reality store concept with Snapchat last holiday season, where users could browse products and deals.
The apparel brand joins other companies in expanding payment options. Buy now, pay later has quickly grown in retail despite regulatory concerns. E-commerce darling Shopify announced a new point-of-sale hardware product for retailers last month. In July, the social media app Instagram added a pay-in-chat feature meant for smaller businesses to finalize transactions in the app.
